Data visualization: integrity and authenticity for greater influence
Modern enterprises are increasingly dependent on data; however, some dangers must be taken into account. Data security and accurate data visualization are always at the forefront of business priorities, as technology presents new risks and pitfalls every day.
Although safety is an important aspect of any project, it is not the only one. A company can rely fully on the data and take full advantage of its power when prioritizing data accuracy and integrity. To produce the desired results, an organization must use the data correctly once its accuracy has been validated. In today’s business environment, information has a lifespan, and that lifespan is surprisingly short. Here are a few examples of data visualization that might be useful to you.
Definition of data accuracy
A precise data set is accurate and consistent. One of the most important aspects of data quality is data consistency. The data shall be presented in a uniform and standardized format and free of errors to be considered accurate.
It is important to have accurate data
Data is simply a source of information. Stakeholder decisions are based on the principles of this concept. Besides, top management doesn’t make all these decisions on its own. Every day, people need accurate data to make business decisions, which means that accurate data visualization must be accessible at all levels of the organization.
It is important to process and present data visualization in a way that provides useful information at the appropriate level to ensure proper application by users. Even with the most advanced analytics tools, there is still a journey before information can be used across an organization.
The knowledge gained from this exercise will be minimal and decisions that influence will likely be poor if data accuracy levels are low at first. For this reason, organizations need to recognize that quality is more important than quantity; too many organizations focus solely on gathering information without ensuring that it is accurate and how to use it. In addition, the organization needs to consider whether data visualization can be truly reliable, the same situation that leads us to integrity.
Should we make important business decisions based on accurate information?
The importance of accurate data integrity
Today, accurate data is increasingly coming from places. There are many examples of data visualization such as mobile devices, loyalty cards, and CRM software systems (CRM), social networking sites, GPS location data, complex market research tools, IoT devices, and the list goes on. The pool of data sources continues to grow without an end in sight.
The company should make accurate data governance a priority taking all these factors into account. Data display transmission comes in a wide range of formats, too. These include numbers and formulas, as well as individual words and sentences.
Business owners who do not have a data management platform to deal with such a diverse set of data sources face a substantial challenge. It is not uncommon to find companies in which some staff members rely on their spreadsheets and word documents, while others, who have a more sophisticated understanding of data, use advanced tools to visualize accurate data. These disparities result in their own set of unique problems, as well as making data visualization meaningless.
The use of the same platform and process by all employees accessing the data will, at a minimum, make it difficult to ensure adequacy. There can be no proper determination of the reliability of the information unless everyone is on the same page, and where this is the case, the information should not be used to influence decisions. The data heritage must be explained to decision-makers and the level of trust (or lack thereof) they can place in this information is at least necessary.
This problem can be resolved through governance. To make information available to everyone, data discovery tools play a role in the democratization of data, but still require centralized management. The use of data visualization by an enterprise cannot be limited to its IT department, but to ensure integrity, IT staff must monitor the general data governance protocols in place across the enterprise.
Your organization is being flooded with data from multiple and disparate sources every second of every day.
Real-time data integration
When companies use the older BI model, it has always been difficult for experts to generate actionable information from raw data. The value of accurate data decreases over time, but it is the biggest asset in the business. Information alone will not be enough. Its use is now required to be fast and almost instantaneous.
Companies face narrower windows of opportunity to make important and minor decisions. When sales team members are talking to customers, for example, they need to have access to the facts and figures that are current and that support their case at that time and there rather than having to wait days, or even weeks, for them to be ready. A company can take advantage of this instant access to gain an advantage over its competitors, or at least keep up.
Companies should also consider the responsiveness of their vendors. Almost all industries require companies to be able to react appropriately to the surrounding environment — whether this involves the actions of their competitors, customer behavior, or major global events. An innovative business is characterized by this type of agility.
For employees to remain competitive and agile in a fast-paced business environment, they need constant access to accurate data.
Inaccurate data can be dangerous
While sophisticated analyses lead to meaningful perceptions, companies cannot simply sit back and admire their work. It doesn’t take long for a data display error to trip over all the hard work and effort you’ve already put into said. According to analysts, accurate data can be used to drive efficiency, profitability, and growth. In contrast, inaccurate data can be a real obstacle to the performance of a business. Here is a video about the dangers of inaccuracy in data:
One employee may focus on Excel or standard reports, while another uses data discovery, resulting in inaccuracies in the information. Even the simplest of reasons could be the lack of adequate training that makes the data differ.
Sounds like a harmless, accidental accident, but it could have a huge impact. In a recent survey of 1,100 senior executives and financial professionals conducted by Blackline and Censuswide, 40% said that the fact that so many accurate data points had surpassed them had made them lose confidence in the accuracy of their financial statements — almost as many as citing human errors (41%). 69% of respondents think that they or their CEO have acted on incomplete or inaccurate financial data when making business decisions. But what is the price?
Using inaccurate or inaccurate data, what decisions is your organization making right now? Is your bottom line affected by those decisions?
Problems with accurate data management
Organizing data visualization can be a challenge, but it can be overcome. Real-time data integration and data integrity are key features of an integrated data management platform. In addition to enabling the democratization of data across the organization, such a platform can also help ensure the continued integrity of accurate data while maintaining a robust data governance policy. There are examples of data visualization that fit precisely with this precise data management, worthy of careful review.
